On December 12, 2015, during the Conference of the Parties—an annual United Nations meeting regarding climate change—the Paris Climate Agreement was introduced and became formal on November 4, 2016. 196 parties joined the Paris Climate Agreement to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius. The international Agreement’s main purposes are to mitigate climate change, provide aid to developing countries that are facing climate disparities, and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Recently, the United States of America has faced an abundance of environmental disasters. From catastrophic wildfires on the West Coast to fatal hurricanes on the East, it is undeniable that these unusually violent calamities were fueled by climate change. Amid these crises, on January 20, 2025, President Trump, on his first day in office, pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement—for the second time. But why?
In a press speech from 2019—the first time President Trump backed out of the agreement during his first term—he argued that the Agreement poses an “unfair economic burden imposed on American workers, businesses, and taxpayers by U.S. pledges” (Pompeo). It is true that the Agreement costs lots of taxpayer money, and that some progress has been “uneven and insufficient,” however, the global solidarity embarked by the Agreement has inspired various nations to improve their understanding and leadership positions when it comes to combating climate change (Gibson).
While the G.O.P agrees with President Trump’s executive order to leave the Agreement, Democrats and left-leaning Americans disapprove of the President’s action because of previously mentioned environmental disasters and that the U.S is “the world’s second-largest annual emitter of planet-warming gases, and its total emissions since the late 19th Century are the highest of any country” (Stallard and Poynting).
President Trump’s isolationist policy regarding the Paris Climate Agreement is not a sign that the Agreement is failing (especially if you consider that the U.S, Iran, Libya, and Yemen are the only countries in the world out of around 200 that are not part of the Agreement), but it is a signal to the rest of the world the United States is unreliable when it comes to its stance on climate change and global warming. As seen in recent events, societies across the globe have faced detrimental consequences from unusual weather patterns and record-breaking temperature levels, which is why global unity regarding climate mitigation is more important than ever before.
Works Cited
Bardan, Roxana. “Temperatures Rising: NASA Confirms 2024 Warmest Year on Record - NASA.” NASA, 10 Jan. 2025, www.nasa.gov/news-release/temperatures-rising-nasa-confirms-2024-warmest-year-on-record/.
Bonitatibus, Steve. “The Trump Administration’s Retreat from Global Climate Leadership.” Center for American Progress, 21 Jan. 2025, www.americanprogress.org/article/the-trump-administrations-retreat-from-global-climate-leadership/.
Pompeo, Michael R. “On the U.S. Withdrawal from the Paris Agreement.” United States Department of State, 4 Nov. 2019, 2017-2021.state.gov/on-the-u-s-withdrawal-from-the-paris-agreement/.
Stallard, Esme. “What Is the Paris Climate Agreement and Why Did the US Rejoin?” BBC News, 22 Apr. 2021, www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-35073297.
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